1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing system for performing printing on a recording medium by analyzing input character information, and a method for acquiring character resources of the printing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to print characters according to a conventional printing control method for a printing apparatus (printer) or a printing system, when intending to perform printing utilizing a printer font mounted in the printer, it is necessary to prepare various kinds of information relating to characters mounted in the printer within a printing control program (printer driver) provided in a program memory of an external CPU (central processing unit) or a host system for realizing the printing control method, and the printer driver causes the printer to print characters based on the information.
Conventionally, part of the information relating to characters, such as character pitches and the like, can be acquired from a printer only by serial interface communication, such as RS-232C or the like. For example, there is a method of acquiring the pitches of characters by transmitting the code of each character of the currently selected typeface.
In conventional printing apparatuses or printing systems, various kinds of information relating to characters mounted in a printer for printing characters are provided within a printing control program (printer driver) for controlling printing by the printer.
Although part of the information, such as character pitches and the like, can be acquired, information can be acquired only by some limited communication methods, such as serial interface communication conforming to RS-232C, and the like, and the following problems (1)-(3) arise.
(1) Since information relating to all characters mounted in a printer must be prepared within a printing control program (printer driver), if the number and the kind of characters mounted in each printer having the same control processing system differ, information relating to all such characters must be prepared. As a result, the capacity of a memory occupied by the data region for that information for operating the printer driver greatly increases.
(2) When acquiring partial information, such as character pitches of a printer font and the like, from a printer, information for each character can be acquired. However, such information is insufficient for forming a document with a large number of characters by performing processing of controlling a printing form in a printer driver, and is therefore insufficient for printing characters. Furthermore, the processing speed is reduced.
(3) Communication with a host printer when acquiring partial information, such as character pitches of a printer font, and the like, from a printer can be realized only by some limited communication methods, such as serial interface communication conforming to RS-232C, and the like. Accordingly, such information cannot be acquired in a system adopting parallel interface hardware conforming to Centronix or the like, which is generally used in a connection method between a printer and a host system.
In accordance with recent progress in the processing capability of a computer system, it has been requested that an output on a display of a host system coincide with an output by a printer.
For example, it is requested that an image or characters seen by the user on a display of a host system can be output by a printer without being modified, and the user can preview the result of printing on the display (desirably with unit magnification) (so-called WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get).
For that purpose, at least in the case of outputting characters, the same font must be used on the display of the host system and by the printer.
Accordingly, in conventional computer systems, the following methods are used when realizing coincidence between a display output of characters on a display and a result of printing by a printer.
(1) In one method, instead of transmitting character codes to the printer, the host system develops a character typeface (font) or a font for display, which is mounted therein, in the form of a pattern image, and transmits the developed image as a bit-map image. The transmitted bit-map image is then printed.
(2) In another method, the host system develops a font or a font for display, which is mounted therein, in the form of a bit-map image (or pattern data for rasterizing a bit-map image), and transmits the bit-map image to the printer (to be loaded therein). When performing printing, character codes are transmitted to the printer, which prints a bit-map image having the corresponding font.
(3) In still another method, the same font as that mounted in the host system is mounted in advance in the printer, and the same font is output both on the display and by the printer.
In the above-described conventional approaches, however, when it is intended to realize coincidence between a character output on the display and a result of character printing by the printer, the following problems are present.
(1) In the method in which a font is developed in the form of a pattern image in the host system, the pattern image is transmitted to the printer as a bit-map image, and the printer prints the bit-map image, much time is needed from the start of printing until the end of the printing in which paper is discharged because the amount of data transfer between the host system and the printer is great.
(2) In the method in which a font mounted in the host system is developed in advance in the form of a bit-map image, the bit-map image is transmitted to the printer (to be loaded therein), and when printing, character codes are transmitted to the printer, and the loaded bit-map image (or pattern data) is printed, the printer side must have a storage device having a large storage capacity, such as a memory or a hard-disk device, thereby increasing the cost of the printer. Particularly, in order be able to select a font used for printing, bit-map images of a plurality of fonts must be stored, so that the storage device of the printer must have a larger capacity.
(3) In the method in which the same font is mounted in the host system and in the printer, compatibility between the host system and the printer is a problem. For example, a font mounted in the host system is in most cases supplied in the form of software, so that the user can arbitrarily exchange or add a font. On the other hand, the printer must supply a font by storing it in a storage device, such as a ROM (read-only memory) or the like. Accordingly, it is difficult to maintain compatibility of a font between the host system and the printer.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus which can supply character-resource information of the printing apparatus, which originally must be stored in a printing control mechanism of an external apparatus, to the external apparatus whenever necessary in response to a request from the external apparatus while reducing the storage capacity of the information at the printing apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing system in which a printing apparatus and an external apparatus can communicate with each other via a predetermined two-way interface, and which can supply character-resource information of the printing apparatus, which originally must be stored in a printing control mechanism of the external apparatus, to the external apparatus whenever necessary by communication between the printing apparatus and the external apparatus in response to a request from the external apparatus while reducing the storage capacity of the information at the printing apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a printing system in which each printing apparatus and each external apparatus can communicate with each other via a predetermined network, and which can supply character-resource information of each printing apparatus, which originally must be stored in a printing control mechanism of each external apparatus, to the each external apparatus whenever necessary by communication between the each printing apparatus and the each external apparatus in response to a request from the each external apparatus while reducing the storage capacity of the information of each printing apparatus.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a character-resource acquisition method of a printing system in which a printing apparatus and an external apparatus can communicate with each other via a predetermined two-way interface, and which can transfer character-resource information of the printing apparatus, which originally must be stored in a printing control mechanism of the external apparatus, to the external apparatus whenever necessary by communication between the printing apparatus and the external apparatus in response to a request from the external apparatus while reducing the storage capacity of the information at the printing apparatus.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a printing system in which in character-information processing in a host system, when, for example, realizing coincidence between a character display on a display and a result of character printing by a printing apparatus, high-speed processing can be performed with a low cost by reducing a memory capacity necessary for both the host system and the printing apparatus, and compatibility between the host system and the printing apparatus can be easily maintained.
According to a first aspect, the present invention, which achieves these objectives, relates to a printing apparatus comprising storage means for storing character-resource information including the name of a typeface of printable characters, the height/width of each character, the position of a base line, and character-qualification setting parameters, and transfer means for transferring all the character-resource information stored in the storage means to an external apparatus at a time based on a character-resource acquisition request input from the external apparatus via a predetermined interface.
In a second aspect of the present invention, the storage means is detachable relative to a main body of the printing apparatus.
According to a third aspect, the present invention relates to a printing system comprising storage means for storing character-resource information including the name of a typeface of printable characters, the height/width of each character, the position of a base line, and character-qualification setting parameters, printing control means for controlling a printing operation of a printer engine on a recording medium by analyzing a series of output control commands received from an external apparatus via a two-way interface, first communication control means for transferring a request to acquire character-resource information of all characters stored in the storage means to a printing apparatus, and second communication control means for transferring the character-resource information of all the characters stored in the storage means to the external apparatus at a time via the two-way interface in response to the request to acquire the character-resource information by the first communication control means.
In a fourth aspect of the present invention, the printing system further comprises resource storage means for storing the character-resource information transferred at a time by the second communication control means, analysis means for analyzing input character information and printing parameters, determination means for determining a printing form for the input character information based on a result of the analysis of the analysis means and the character-resource information stored in the storage means, conversion means for converting the data into a series of output control commands based on the printing form determined by the determination means, and third communication control means for transferring the series of output control commands converted by the conversion means to the printing apparatus via a predetermined two-way interface.
In a fifth aspect of the present invention, the first communication means transfers the request to acquire the character-resource information of all the characters stored in the, storage means to the printing apparatus at an initializing setting of the printing apparatus.
In a sixth aspect of the present invention, the resource storage means stores character-resource information of a plurality of printing apparatuses.
According to a seventh aspect, the present invention relates to a printing system comprising storage means for storing character-resource information including the name of a typeface of printable characters, the height/width of each character, the position of a base line, and character-qualification setting parameters, printing control means for controlling a printing operation of a printer engine on a recording medium by analyzing a series of output control commands received from an external apparatus via a predetermined network, first communication control means for transferring a request to acquire character-resource information of all characters stored in the storage means of each printing apparatus to the each printing apparatus, and second communication control means for transferring the character-resource information of all the characters stored in the storage means of the each printing apparatus to the external apparatus at a time via the predetermined network in response to the request to acquire the character-resource information by the first communication control means.
In an eighth aspect of the present invention, the printing system further comprises resource storage means for storing the character-resource information transferred at a time by the second communication control means, analysis means for analyzing input character information and printing parameters, determination means for determining a printing form for the input character information based on a result of the analysis of the analysis means and the character-resource information stored in the storage means, conversion means for converting the data into a series of output control commands based on the printing form.determined by the determination means, and third communication control means for transferring the series of output control commands converted by the conversion means to the printing apparatus via a predetermined network.
In a ninth aspect of the present invention, the first communication means transfers the request to acquire all the character-resource information stored in the storage means to each printing apparatus at an initializing setting of each printing apparatus.
According to a tenth aspect, the present invention relates to a character-resource acquisition method of a printing system comprising storage means for storing character-resource information including the name of a typeface of printable characters, the height/width of each character, the position of a base line, and character-qualification setting parameters, printing control means for controlling a printing operation of a printer engine on a recording medium by analyzing a series of output control commands received from an external apparatus via a two-way interface, comprising the steps of transferring a request to acquire character-resource information of all characters stored in the storage means to a printing apparatus, and transferring the character-resource information of all the characters stored in the storage means to an external apparatus at a time via the two-way interface in response to the request to acquire the character-resource information.
According to an eleventh aspect, the present invention relates to a printing system configured by a host system and a printing apparatus in which the same character typeface is used both in character information processing in the host system and in printing processing in the printing apparatus, comprising two-way communication means for transmitting and receiving information in two ways between the host system and the printing apparatus, and control means for loading character-resource information and character-pattern information mounted in the printing apparatus from the printing apparatus into the host system via the two-way communication means, so that characters mounted in the printing apparatus are used both in character-information processing in the host system and in printing processing in the printing apparatus.
In the first aspect of the present invention, all character-resource information stored in the storage means is transferred to the external apparatus at a time based on a request to acquire character resources input from the external apparatus via the predetermined interface, and character information input to the external apparatus is processed in accordance with peculiar character-resource information acquired from the printing apparatus which intends to perform printing.
In the second aspect of the present invention, all character-resource information stored in the storage means, which is detachable relative to the main body of the printing apparatus, is transferred to the external apparatus at a time based on a request to acquire character resources input from the external apparatus via the predetermined interface, and character information input to the external apparatus is processed in accordance with peculiar character-resource information acquired from the printing apparatus which intends to perform printing.
In the third aspect of the present invention, when a request to acquire character-resource information of all characters stored in the storage means of the printing apparatus is issued from the external apparatus, the printing apparatus transfers all the character-resource information to the external apparatus via the predetermined two-way interface, and processing of printing character information input to the external apparatus by the printing apparatus in an excellent state is performed by acquiring the character-resource information of the printing apparatus, intending to perform printing, which originally must be stored in the external apparatus.
In the fourth aspect of the present invention, character-resource information transmitted from the printing apparatus at a time is stored, input character information and printing parameters are analyzed by the analysis means, a printing form for the input character information is determined based on a result of the analysis and the stored character-resource information, the data is converted into a series of output control commands based on the determined printing form, and the series of converted output control commands are transferred to the printing apparatus via the predetermined two-way interface, so that the output commands for obtaining an excellent result of printing from the character-resource information acquired from the printing apparatus and the input character information are efficiently transferred to the printing apparatus.
In the fifth aspect of the present invent-ion, when a request to acquire character-resource information of all characters stored in the storage means of the printing apparatus is issued from the external apparatus at initializing setting of the printing apparatus, all the character-resource information is transferred from the printing apparatus to the external apparatus at a time via the predetermined two-way interface, and processing of printing character information input to the external apparatus by the printing apparatus in an excellent state is performed by acquiring the character-resource information of the printing apparatus, intending to perform printing, which originally must be stored in the external apparatus.
In the sixth aspect of the present invention, character-resource information transferred from the plurality of printing apparatuses at a time is stored, input character information and printing parameters are analyzed by the analysis means, a printing form for the input character information is determined based on a result of the analysis and one of the stored character-resource information, the data converted into a series of output control commands based on the determined printing form, and the series of converted output control commands are transferred to the printing apparatus via the predetermined two-way interface, so that the output commands for obtaining an excellent result of printing from the character-resource information acquired from the printing apparatus and the input character information are efficiently transferred to the printing apparatus.
In the seventh aspect of the present invention, all character-resource information stored in the storage means is transferred to the external apparatus at a time in response to a request to acquire character resources input from the external apparatus via the predetermined network, and character information input to the external apparatus is processed in accordance with peculiar character-resource information acquired from each printing apparatus.
In the eighth aspect of the present invention, all character-resource information stored in the storage means, which is detachable relative to the main body of the printing apparatus, is transferred to the external apparatus at a time based on a request to acquire character resources input from the external apparatus via the predetermined network, and character information input to the external apparatus is processed in accordance with peculiar character-resource information acquired from the printing apparatus intending to perform printing.
In the ninth aspect of the present invention, when a request to acquire all character-resource information stored in the storage means of the printing apparatus has been issued from the external apparatus at initializing setting of the printing apparatus, all the character-resource information is transferred from the printing apparatus to the external apparatus at a time via the predetermined network, and processing for printing character information input to the external apparatus by the printing apparatus in an excellent state is performed by acquiring the character-resource information of the printing apparatus, intending to perform printing, which originally must be stored in the external apparatus.
In the tenth aspect of the present invention, when a request to acquire character-resource information of all characters stored in the storage means of each printing apparatus is issued from the external apparatus at initializing setting of each printer, all the character-resource information is transferred from the each printing apparatus to the external apparatus via the predetermined network, and processing for printing character information input to the external apparatus by the each printer in an excellent state is performed by acquiring the character-resource information of the printing apparatus, intending to perform printing, which originally must be stored in the external apparatus.
In the eleventh aspect of the present invention, character-resource information and character-pattern-configuration data relating to characters mounted in the printing apparatus are loaded from the printing apparatus to the host system via the two-way communication means for transmitting and receiving information in two directions between the host system and the printing apparatus, and characters mounted in the printing apparatus are used both in character-information processing in the host system and in printing processing in the printing apparatus, so that coincidence between character-information processing of the host system, such as processing for displaying characters on a display, and the result of printing by the printing apparatus is easily realized.